Following a brief one-day break after defeating Maryland Friday night, Oklahoma hit the road and claimed its ninth road win of the season.
"We had some great performances today, led by Joey Fio's pin of No. 8 Anthony Robles," head coach Jack Spates said. "Kyle Terry and Eric Lapotsky also had pins, so to have three in the match was satisfying. We showed great energy and really came out here to wrestle."
Setting the tone of the evening was Fio's pin at 125 pounds. Fio, ranked No. 11, was pinned by Robles in the previous two meetings between the two. The Sandpoint, Idaho, native now owns three pins on the year and a 13-3 overall record.
Sooner Brian Shelton was dominant in his victory over Angel Alegre at 133 pounds, winning by a 13-1 major decision to give OU a 10-0 lead after the opening bouts.
ASU picked up its first win of the night, as No. 6 Chris Drouin defeated Seth Vernon by a 15-6 final.
At 149 pounds, No. 15 Kyle Terry extended his impressive 18-match winning streak by pinning Vicente Varela to extend the Sooner lead, 16-4. Terry is now 20-1 on the season, including a perfect 12-0 in duals.
Chad Terry kept the Sooners on track with a 13-4 major decision of Tejovan Edwards at 157 pounds. Terry was inserted back into the starting lineup against the Sun Devils and with the win, improved to 15-3 on the year.
Ryan Smith next fell to Kyle DeBerry, 7-3, at 165 pounds before Jeff James edged Eric Starks by a 4-2 margin at 174 pounds. James, ranked ninth, is on a 17-match winning streak.
Pat Flynn then blanked Jake Meredith by a 4-0 final to put Oklahoma on top, 26-7 at 184 pounds. Flynn, No. 19, now stands at 20-2 on the year.
Eric Lapotsky quickly disposed of Thor Moen at 197 pounds by recording his team-leading 11th pin this season (0:58). Tenth-ranked Lapotsky bounced back after losing his match versus Maryland on Friday.
"It was great to see Eric bounce back after some adversity and get a pin tonight," Spates said. "We have been working and preaching on getting pins in practice and we are really pleased."
Quietly extending his winning streak to 10 matches, heavyweight Nathan Fernandez (No. 20) picked up OU's last win of the evening with a 16-7 major decision over Imanibom Etukeren.
The competition stiffens for Oklahoma, as the team travels to Ames, Iowa, this Friday, Jan. 23, to take on the No. 3-ranked Iowa State Cyclones. The Sooners will look to go 2-0 in the Big 12.
"The matches leading up to this have been great building blocks, but Iowa State presents a huge challenge," Spates said. "They have handled us the past couple of times we have wrestled and we look forward to a great week of practice to prepare."
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